Fly on the Wall

The student lounge in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, housed in Dwight Bentel Hall, at San Jose State University, is a unique room. At times, it is crowded and noisy, filled with people tapping away at their laptops with their laptop power cords causes a web along the walls and sockets. There are backpacks on the ground with books open on the tabletops, with paper fluttering all around. Some students are there to socialize and take a break from the rigors of class. Others are there to conduct a last minute cram session for a test or quiz. Sometimes there is even a presentation run through for a class. On this day in particular, when I arrived after taking a test, it was quiet, with about six other people in the room, all with their laptops out and headphones on. The only sound you could hear was the soft “click – click” of the keyboard keys.

Within a few minutes, someone started a conversation in low tones with the person seated at the study table with them. Then another student walked in and the occupants of the room said hello and fell silent again. Some of the students were all working on an assignment for the same class and one student asked another then the other to look it over for errors. While this was happening, yet another student walked in and took a spot at a table. The student who had been asking for help had other business to attend to. They started their discussion and soon were talking in normal tones. The noise volume of the room quickly rose as students realized that being silent no longer mattered. Then as the time drew close to the hour, indicating a new class period, all students cleared the tables, stuffing their papers, textbooks, computers and other belongings into their backpacks and within a minute had cleared out of the room. Then, I was all alone, and it was silent again, with only the sound of the air vent blowing cool air into the room. And all that is making noise now is the sound of my keyboard keys “click – clicking” away.

Word of the Week #4

o abatement:

o Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931)

o Chapter 285 of the Session Laws of Minnesota for the year 1925 provides for the abatement, as a public nuisance, of a “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory newspaper, magazine, or other periodical.”

o definition: abatement: (noun) (often in legal use): the ending, reduction, or lessening of something

o The administration could do nothing to cause the abatement of noise at the student rally against budget cuts.

Comparing Media

For this particular assignment, I chose to compare the various media outlets that have been covering the ongoing investigation into the death of Yale student Annie Le. The initial story was broken nearly a week ago, but as more details have been revealed, particularly finding Annie Le, the news has been producing new pieces daily. Of course, the online news aspect of it has been explosive. Because it is all online, the articles can be produced mere hours or even minutes after the information is revealed. The particular online article I found was from nytimes.com and it is around 3 web pages long and is most likely the same story that appeared in the print version of the New York Times. Of course there are countless similar stories online about this event, numbering in the tens of thousands.

For the newspaper version of the story, I looked at the article in the San Francisco Chronicle from Friday, September 18. The story is a 1/8 page strip on page one of the section and a half page on the continuing page. It includes a picture of the suspect and a picture of the victim with minimal captioning. Above the headline is a sub head that says "Annie Le Case" which indicates that is just one article in a series of articles. This particular article quoted 3 sources, some investigators and some colleagues.

For the television version of this story, I found a video clip from CNN that was also posted to their website. The news clip is 2 minutes and 17 seconds long and highlights the press conference where the New Haven police announced they had arrested a suspect. This particular news clip was a very pared down version of the story and was the raw, unfiltered information. When being reported on, the story is filtered and put into the words of the writer. When they show the press conference un-edited you get the information straight from the source.

This story is no where near complete and will continue to be covered in the newspaper, video and online news forms.

Word of the Week # 3

1. hegemony

2. "We the Media" by Dan Gillmor

3. The news hegemony of the networks and big newspapers reached a peak in the 1960s and 1970s.

4. Definition: (noun) leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others

5. The male hegemony in the world of Public Relations is slowly giving way to women, as shown by the numbers in terms of ratio at PR programs at schools across the nation.

Library Scavenger Hunt

Library Scavenger Hunt

1. What type of system is used in to organize the books in the MLK library? Briefly describe how it works.

In the MLK library, they use two different systems to organize their books because the old library was joined with the new library when it was built. The Dewey decimal system separates books into ten main classes and the books are identified by a series of numbers separated by decimals. Sometimes, two books will have the same call number. If this happens, the author’s last name is listed after the call number. This is for the first four floors. After the fourth floor, the Library of Congress Classification system is used. The main difference between this system and the Dewey Decimal system is that instead of 10 classes, there are 21 classes.

2. What is in the “Browsing Library” on the first floor?

The Browsing Library houses all the entertainment media in English. Also, new fiction books are on display.

3. What types of electronic databases are available in the MLK Library?

The MLK library has Academic Search Premier, Lexis Nexis, and Econlit along with other electronic databases. Also, it houses a variety of e-journals and e-books.

4. Briefly explain how to access the library’s electronic databases.

Go to the www.sjlirbary.org and click on either “articles and databases”, “SJSU research topics” or “SJSU Electronic Journals Index” located on the left hand side of your screen. Go through the drop down menu and click on the subject matter you are looking for. If the database is only for SJSU students and staff, you must enter your ID and a password to gain access.

5. List 10 daily newspapers that are available in the MLK library.

San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Oakland Tribune, LA Times, New York Times, Financial Times, Oakland Tribune, USA Today, New York Post and Chicago Tribune.

6. Give the title and call numbers of a video, DVD and CD.

DVD (The Midnight Room, PB FICTION Gorman), video (The New York times guide to the best children’s videos, 791.4375 New York) CD (Prince Caspian (sound recording): (the return to Narnia): from the Chronicles of Narnia) J CD SPOKEN Lewis)

7. Find a reference book; give the title and call number, and briefly describe the type of information found in this book.

A Guide to Library Research Methods. Call #Z710 .M23 1987. It gives a detailed guide to researching various topics in the library and utilizing the library to make the most of it.

8. Find a DVD, CD, newspaper, and book in a foreign language. Give the title and call number for each.

DVD: Instant immersion Ingles. # ENG-SPA 428.3461 Lona. CD: Guan guang Ying yu yi xue tong : MP3 ban. # CHI 428.3495 Shi. Newspaper: Tu pao k’an k’an Chung-kuo. # PL 1129.E5.T8x 1992. Book: Italian Stories = Novelle Italiane: a dual-language book. # ITA-ENG 808.83 Italian

9. List 5 magazines available in the MLK Library.

Self Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Time, and MacWorld: The Macintosh Magazine.

10. Locate a scholarly article on John Steinbeck. Give the call number, title and author.

“John Steinbeck and the Frontier West”. By Christopher Scott Busch.

# PS3537.T3234 Z6225 1992a.

11. Locate a book about Steinbeck. Give the call number, title and author.

John Steinbeck. Catherine Reef. # YA 813.52 STEINBEC Reef.

12. Find a book on farm labor in the California Room. Give the call #, title and author.

Mexican Workers and American Dreams: Immigration, repatriation, and California Farm Labor, 1900-1939. By Camille Guerin-Gonzales. # REF CAL 331.544 Guierin, HD1527.C2 G84 1994.

13. Find a book on San Jose in the California Room. Give the call #, title and author.

Haunts of San Jose, California. By David Lee. # 133.1097 Lee,

14. Find a book on California minorities. Give the call #, title and author.

Making a non-White America: Californians coloring outside ethnic lines, 1925-1955. By Allison Varzally. # F870.A1 V37 2008.

15. What is the MLK’s Cultural Heritage Center collections?

The Cultural Heritage Center collections are collections of books from the various cultures of the world, including Chicano, Africana, and American among others.

16. List three things you’ll find in the Center for Beethoven Studies.

A lock of his hair, a Forte piano, and Clavichord.

17. What is the difference between a scholarly journal and a popular magazine? How can you tell them apart? (2 pts.)

A scholarly journal contains articles that are longer and provide more in-depth analysis of various topics. The author is usually an expert or specialist in the field and they use the jargon of the field. A popular magazine has shorter articles, providing a broad view on the topic. Also the author is usually a staff writer of the publication. The covers of popular magazines are usually illustrated in a more colorful way as well.

18. List 5 mass comm. (journalism/PR/advertising) journals available in the MLK Library.

International Public Relations Review. The Public relations Strategist, Public Relations Quarterly, The Public Relations Journal, Public Relations Review.

19. How many art installations are there in the library. Briefly describe your favorite one.

There are around 33 different art installations in the MLK Library. My favorite right now is World War II Revisited exhibit, which is there until January. I just love everything about World War II and the black and white style of photos.

Word of the Week # 2

I am taking Media Law and Ethics this semester and since I am by no means a law student, I am using my dictionary more than ever. A lot of these posts are going to be legal terms. It makes me wonder why the legal word has to have a completely different language apart from the "civilians" language. So here it is.

Abatement:

read in: Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931)

Chapter 285 of the Session Laws of Minnesota for the year 1925 provides for the abatement, as a public nuisance, of a “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory newspaper, magazine, or other periodical.”

definition: abatement: (noun) (often in legal use): the ending, reduction, or lessening of something

Example: The administration could do nothing to cause the abatement of noise at the student rally against budget cuts.

My Favorite Type of Writing

I have been reading since before I can remember. When I was younger, around 7 or 8, I started reading the American Girl books, which went along with the dolls. I loved them and would sit for hours and just read through a whole series in a day. What attracted me most to them was the historical content. I always thought that it would be so much more fun to be living in their time, whether it was the Elizabethan Age like Samantha or during World War Two like Molly.

Since then, I have read any historical fiction that I can get my eyes on. I have more books on the Tudor Family (King Henry VIII) than any other era. And it is not just the historical concept of it. Philippa Gregory, who is my favorite historical fiction writer and author of most of the Tudor family books, has a way of making you feel like you are actually IN the court and the castle or any other situation that comes about. She describes each outfit in such detail that I can see it perfectly in my head. Because they are about a tumultuous time in England's history, you can feel the tenseness coming off the page. It is a world that I can lose myself into and when I am ready, to come out of and back into my own reality.